West Chester cruises past Cheyney for 9-0 mark

West Chester last dropped a football game on Nov. 3, 2012. Since then, the Golden Rams have reeled off 10 straight, vaulted into the top-10 of the Division II national polls and to the top of the Regional Rankings.

And Saturday’s workmanlike 66-14 victory at winless Cheyney gave WCU its first 9-0 start since the 1967 season, when Bob Mitten was the head coach, and the Rams went on to win the PSAC Championship Game and earned a berth in the Tangerine Bowl. West Chester (6-0, 9-0) can return to the conference title game with a victory next Saturday against nationally-ranked Bloomsburg. The Huskies, incidentally, were the last opponent to top the Rams 365 days ago.

“It’s awesome. We’ve worked real hard and we deserve the record we have,” said WCU center Derek Schatz.

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“It was hard to keep them focused,” admitted Rams’ head coach Bill Zwaan. “This is the type of game that makes you the most concerned as a coach. You know these kids will be ready against Bloomsburg next weekend, but there is always the tendency to look ahead.”

Shippensburg threw a monkey wrench into the potential showdown of unbeatens by handing No. 5 Bloomsburg its first loss in a nationally-televised clash on Thursday, but the stakes have not changed. Due to the conference tie-breakers, the winner on Saturday at Farrell Stadium will still represent the Eastern Division in the PSAC Championship Game on Nov. 16.

“It’s been hard not to think about it,” defensive lineman Demrick Cook acknowledged. “It’s the biggest game you could ever ask for in your college career. It’s two rival top-10 teams playing at home for the PSAC East Championship.”

Saturday’s triumph assured WCU of at least a share of the PSAC East crown, it’s first since 2008. A win over the Huskies would likely secure the program’s first NCAA Playoff berth in five years.

“But a tie is not our goal,” Zwaan said. “We can finally start thinking about Bloomsburg. For so long we had to kind of put them in the back of our minds.”

A rather sparse crowd showed up at O’Shields-Stevenson Stadium for this cross-county contest, and the Wolves (0-7, 0-9) actually made it interesting in the early going by containing All-American runner Rondell White and mounting a credible passing attack against West Chester’s makeshift secondary. But CU self-destructed with a flurry of four second half turnovers, which led directly to 21 points, and ended any drama in a hurry.

“We came out of the gate exactly how we wanted to, but the problem was maintaining that level,” Cheyney head coach Ken Lockard said. “When turn it over deep in your own territory, it’s detrimental.”

Lockard said his team needed to get off to a good start to have a chance and the Wolves made it happen. Early in the second quarter, Cheyney embarked on an impressive 78-yard scoring drive that included a marvelous diving catch by Khalif Dandy, setting up a goal line keeper by quarterback Adler Thony to slice the lead to 10-7.

But it didn’t last long as on the first play on the ensuing possession, Rams’ quarterback Andrew Derr found Erick Brundidge over middle for a 67-yard touchdown. The quick turnaround sapped the much-needed momentum for the underdog Wolves, and what was shaping up as an encouraging first half ended with WCU marching 93-yards to take a 24-7 score into the locker room.

“The touchdown right after we scored was tough,” Lockard. “(West Chester) did a great on that two-minute drive.

Making the first start of his career in place of the injured Sean McCartney, Derr executed a two-minute drill to near perfection, capping it off with a 21-yard strike to wideout Tim Keyser with 28.9 seconds on the clock. The redshirt freshman cemented his status as the signalcaller of the future with a solid day, going 13 of 23 for 293 yards, three TDs and no interceptions.

“What happened early was good for us because it shows us we have to work for every play no matter who the opponent is,” Schatz pointed out. “This group is really focused on getting better every game and this was just another chance. We didn’t overlook them and we knew this was a game we had to take seriously.”

Although White needed 22 carries to pick up 103 hard-earned yards, he notched rushing TDs in each half before retiring for the day. And with WCU comfortably ahead, the defense forced back-to-back third quarter turnovers to open a 45-7 lead.

End Chris DiValentino’s blindside hit allowed linebacker Drew Persa to pick up a loose ball and waltz into the end zone. And then not long thereafter, 300-pound lineman Demrick Cook tipped a screen pass to himself and registered the first interception of his career deep in CU territory. On the next play, Derr and Brundidge hooked up again on a touchdown pass that covered 25 yards, and the rout was on.

“The defense got all of those turnovers and that just flipped the game totally around,” Zwaan said.

“When one person on defense does something, it gets us all going,” Cook added. “We feed off each other’s energy.

“We knew in order to go 9-0 we had to beat them, so we were ready.”

Against the West Chester reserves, Thony scored again on a fourth quarter keeper for Cheyney, which now owns an 18-game losing skid. With explosive Shippensburg up next, it is now quite likely that the Wolves final legitimate chance to avoid the program’s sixth winless campaign since 2001 will be a regular season finale at home on Nov. 16 against new PSAC member 0-9 Seton Hill.

“Our players are waiting for us to put that complete game together, just like we are as coaches, and go out there and beat somebody we are not supposed to beat,” Lockard said. “They were hanging with one of the top teams in the country for the first half of this game, so they know they can do it.”

NOTES: At least four regular WCU starters sat out the contest, including the team’s top cornerback, Al-Hajj Shabazz, who suffered a hand injury at Shippensburg. McCartney (ankle), offensive lineman James Colivas (ankle) and linebacker Mike Labor (ankle) probably could have played, if needed, but the loss of Shabazz is more problematic in an inexperienced and increasingly thin secondary. To complicate matters, redshirt freshman safety Kevin Malone got the start but was helped off the field in the second half, unable to put any weight on his right leg. “We are really banged up,” Zwaan said. “We are going to have to figure out a way to get it done. We are not sure the extent of the injuries to Shabazz and Malone right now.” … Senior runner Marcus Jones paced the Wolves with 99 rushing yards on 14 attempts.